It’s January. You are mid way through the year. You are (maybe) starting to feel settled. Or maybe you aren’t. If that’s the case, don’t worry your pretty little head. It will get there. Either way – staff training is probably the last thing on your mind. Staff training is an August, before the school year starts type of activity. If you are non-confrontational like me, staff training is maybe not your most favorite work related task. So I’m not chomping at the bit to take another swig of that cocktail. But unfortunately, staff training is not something you can check off your to do list in September.

In the start of the year, I use my Paraprofessional Training Manual is a guide for my staff training. This booklet provides a boatload of information about different strategies, concepts, and tools to utilize within the classroom. Check out this resource here. It’s easy to move on after one staff meeting and think that you have staff training covered. But check out some simple tips on how to keep this going all year long!

How to Continue Staff Training All Year Long:

• Schedule Regular Staff Meetings

That one staff meeting at the start of the year won’t cut it. Even though we are all super strapped for time and many of us don’t get the luxury of scheduled student free time with your staff – you have got to figure out how to make this work. Buy pizza, starbucks, whatever you gotta do. Find time for a quick ten minute rendezvous however you can. Give your staff the time to ask questions, share their opinion, and take the opportunity to get everyone on the same page. If you are short on time – prioritize and quickly hit the most important issues and try to minimize chatting and venting during these meetings.

• Observe Staff Taking Data & Running Programs

If you are like me – you are a checklist person. Come fall you are feeling great because you have checked off ‘teach staff how to take data’ off of your list. Then you continue on your merry way and then feel horrified come January when your staff haven’t magically read your mind about how to deal with the numerous changes our students have throughout the year. Our students are going to master programs, run into roadblocks, and needing a complete overhaul of prompting procedures. Spend the time sitting at the different centers in your room and checking in on everything – independent stations, fluency, you name it. Take the time and give everything a little freshening!

• Praise, Praise, Praise

One of the hardest things about our jobs is that our hard work very often goes unthanked. The same goes for those amazing hard-working paraprofessionals in our classroom. Tell them they are awesome. Tell them you couldn’t get through a day without them. Tell them they are essential to your classroom. And tell them a lot. 

• Get Feedback

You may be feeling burnt out or in need of some changes come this midyear roadblock. Your staff may be as well. They also may have some great ideas on how to freshen up your room. Ask their advice!